Scott Brown debuts on Fox News

2/13/13 10:14 PM EST

Former Republican Sen. Scott Brown made his debut as a Fox News contributor on Wednesday night, telling host Sean Hannity he decided not to run for Senate again “because I felt I could make a difference being on this show and doing other things.”

Brown made his first appearance as a Fox News contributor on “Hannity” and offered his take on President Obama's State of the Union address as well as his own career in the Senate. Brown’s hire was officially announced earlier Wednesday, and as POLITICO previously reported, he had been in talks with Fox News since announcing that he would not run for the Massachusetts seat vacated by John Kerry.

“Hey Sean, great to be on and hello to you and your viewers,” Brown said after Hannity welcomed him the show.

“Well, we appreciate you being here,” Hannity said. “I’ve got to get one political question out of the way, you knew I’d throw this in — why not run for Kerry’s seat?”

Brown noted that it isn’t Kerry’s seat — “it is the people’s seat, as you remember” — and said he decided he didn’t want to be involved in yet another race as well as a Congress that’s “really dysfunctional and extremely partisan.”

“To do five races in six years and raise another $30-$50 million and then and participate in a Congress that’s really dysfunctional and extremely partisan — I felt I could make a difference being on this show and doing other things,” Brown said. “I plan to stay involved certainly, but, you know, I’m going to continue to work and be part of the election process back home and other elections around the country.”

“We welcome you to the program and the network,” Hannity said. “Thanks so much for being here.”

Brown and Hannity then discussed the State of the Union, with the former senator saying he felt Obama proposed “things that we can work on, but the key is to do it together.”

“There weren’t too many olive branches being passed out to the members of Congress, especially the GOP, but there certainly were things that I felt have some promise, for example the trade with Europe and trying to develop jobs, but the problem is, everything he’s laid out — and he certainly laid out his priorities very clearly — how are you going to pay for them?” Brown said.

Meanwhile, Brown also knocked Majority Leader Harry Reid as “shameful” and “unacceptable” for not getting a budget done, and criticized his leadership in general.

“He could bring up any vote he wants, anytime,” Brown said. “So the fact that he’s in charge, they think somehow we’re, the minority party’s in charge.”

“You can do things, but you need to include everybody and that’s not happening,” Brown added later.

The interview wrapped shortly after with Hannity telling Brown, “Welcome to the family.”